Editorial May 1, 1971 Issue

Who Owns the Earth?

Carl J. Welz

When we drive to the seashore and find that the lovely stretch of beach we played on last year has the sign "Private Property— No Trespassing," many of us begin to question the unrestricted right of ownership. But when we are offered a piece of oceanfront property at a price we can afford, some of us may tend to defer the question.

Looking to the Bible for an understanding of the moral basis for private possession of land, we come upon such passages as this from Deuteronomy: "The Lord our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount.... Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after them." ^{Deut. 1:6,8;} Leviticus gives us the law later stressed by Christ Jesus, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." ^{Lev. 19:18;}

In many instances what people have done with the land they have possessed shows not only ingenuity and productivity but care and love for the earth and for its people. But when we see that many of earth's beauty spots are being stripped of their beauty or gobbled up by unscrupulous developers, it is evident that the right of possession can be abused. The welfare of others can be ignored. So can the ecology of the land to which we may gain legal title.

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